It's Not Just a Game Anymore
by Azealian Solus
Summary: "I did horrible things in that game, doctor. I'm not even the same person I was before" Arashi laid back in the comfy chair, his red hair covering most of his face, but he didn't bother to part it. "Then perhaps now is the time for reflection, tell your story?" The doctor started a recording. "Fine. It all started..."(AU AINCRAD, OC-Centric! OC pairings undecided.)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello and welcome to a reboot of my first ever post on this site.**

 **After over a year of not touching the story (And losing all my notes and files for the plot), I have decided that I wanted to give a new approach towards the epic fantasy story that I wanted this to be.**

 **I'm still an amateur writer, so please review and let me know how I am doing!**

 **I hope that you enjoy. Here is the new first chapter of "It's Not Just a Game Anymore"**

Oh. And I don't own the anime.

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

Arashi's eyes glanced back down towards his paper, the Japanese word for "Test" placed at the top right-hand portion of the page.

The whole class was mostly silent, save for the few that have yet to finish the test on World History, which was still enough to fill the room with the light sound of pencil scratching on paper. Arashi quickly glanced over his paper once more, going over each question slowly.

Even after 2 years he was still having a hard time with the language. He sighed, realizing a few mistakes that he had made in his writing, but deciding that he may as well turn it in regardless. He'd be content with a just passing grade.

After assuring himself that he hadn't missed too many of the questions, he took a hold of his pencil and slowly began to write in his name at the top. The writing was sloppy and still barely passing for a middle schooler of the native language, but he was happy with the improvements that he had made since first coming to the country.

"Arashi Kobayashi"

He mouthed the name a few times, it still felt foreign on his lips. The Japanese language was still taking its time to integrate itself into his mind.

Arashi Kobayashi was not his real name, but for the sake of he and his mother's safety it was needed.

He scowled a little, glaring at the name as he quoted the suited men that first told him about the trip to another country. They had handed him an official passport with his new name on it, repeating "It's for your safety."

He let out a very long and soft sigh, turning his head away from his test and directing his attention to the window on his left. Instinctively he moved his hand up to brush his red-dyed hair out of his face. He hated thinking too much on the past like that, it always brought back more memories than it should have.

A few birds flew by, reminding him that he was located on the third floor. The sky was bright and clear, with a few white clouds drifting lazily above. Below, the school's courtyard was in full view, which would soon be flooded by the students all leaving for the day. That was something he both enjoyed and loathed about his last class, you were given the best view in the school pardon the rooftop, but you'd also find yourself staring at the exit/entrance to the school wishing the time would go by faster.

He willed himself to look away from the exit of his school, taking interest instead of the ever-living city that encompassed it. It wasn't that bad of a place to live, he supposed. It had parks, plenty of shops, plenty of attractions, plenty to do. There was a little of everything, for everyone. That was how his mother had described it.

Absentmindedly, he began to write onto the few pieces of scratch paper that he had on the side of his desk. He wrote his new name a few times in Japanese, and then in English cursive. The difference in penmanship was great, the cursive being smooth and well-practiced while the Japanese characters looked sloppy and forced.

The pencil moved again, writing a new name. His old name.

He quickly turned his pencil over and began to erase it, leaving nothing but eraser shavings in its place.

Arashi almost growled under his breath, writing out his thoughts in his own native language.

 _'Why am I even here?'_

He was interrupted from writing anything more by the loud bell ringing throughout the school, signaling the end of the day's work. Arashi quickly crumpled up the paper and tossed it into his backpack, glanced down at his test one last time as he stood with the rest of the class. They each turned in their test one by one before heading out into the hallway. He made it almost to the exit before a voice called out to him.

"Hey, Arashi-kun!"

The person in question turned his head.

"Oh. Hey, Toshiro." Arashi raised his hand as he greeted his friend.

Toshiro crossed his arms a little, pouting. "You forgot you were coming over to my place, didn't you? You didn't even wait in the classroom for me like you said you would!"

Toshiro Akata, son of the principal of the school they both attended. He was a short, glasses wearing blonde that spent most of his time inside reading too many books than is probably healthy for him.

At least, that's what Arashi thought.

He stood at 5'2, notably shorter than Arashi's 5'8. His blonde hair was long and often styled differently every other week. It had an effect of making him look incredibly feminine, and most that don't know any better are quick to assume that the shy, quiet blonde was a girl. Today it was let free, draping along the sides of his face and down a good portion of his back.

The two of them had become quick friends since Arashi's arrival to the foreign country, with Toshiro being assigned to help Arashi get acquainted with the school system. It helped that Toshiro also spoke a little bit of English, that probably being the reason why they were paired together in almost all their classes, just in case Arashi needed a little help understanding something.

Arashi rolled his eyes. "I knew you would find me regardless."

"You're an ass!" Toshiro pouted again, hugging his books close to his chest with one hand and lightly punched Arashi's shoulder with the other.

"Uh-huh, completely." Arashi snickered a little and walked in step alongside his friend. The two of them walked outside, followed by most of the student body.

"Alright! The weekend is here and I'm SO ready for it!" Arashi cheered, raising his hands into the air as he stretched, before resting them behind his head.

This time it was Toshiro's turn to roll his eyes. "Don't seem too eager, I had to practically beg my father to let someone come over for the weekend. You better not blow this for me."

Toshiro's father, Mr. Akata, was a rather serious man, one that demanded the best out of his students. That was especially so for Toshiro, being both his student and his son. Arashi sometimes had a problem with the old man and his demands for perfection, especially when that sometimes meant working his son to exhaustion the nights before exams.

Arashi huffed and crossed his arms, then smirked a little bit. "I could just speak English the whole time I'm there, I know he still can't understand me more than half of the time."

"Please don't. He's already wary of you because of your little pranks." Toshiro groaned.

"Oh please, I've been here about two years now. I'm a perfectly respectful citizen that would never do anything to harm another student in any way possible!," Arashi's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm, lightly bumping Toshiro's shoulder with his own. "He has nothing to worry about, other than me corrupting his son every once in awhile."

The blonde bumped his hip against Arashi, glaring softly at the ex-American. "I'm still in trouble from the last time you decided to..." Toshiro paused, finding the right words to quote Arashi's English, _"Spice this boring-ass place up"_

Arashi chuckled, recalling how he was able to convince his friend to walk into the women's restroom and replace the soap with pink dye. Sadly, the small prank was only able to effect a few people before it was found out and quickly changed back. Arashi just had not anticipated that the school's security system involved hidden cameras showing the effeminate male walking into the bathrooms unnoticed, openly holding a canister of the dye.

Well played, old man.

"The best-laid plans..." Arashi mumbled. "We should've done it to the showers, at least then it would have been worth it..." He mused.

"We had Gym class that day, idiot! We would have been pinked as well!" Toshiro shook his head incredulously.

"You'd be cute with pink hair. Then no one would be able to tell you _weren't_ a girl!" Arashi joked, sticking his tongue out.

Toshiro's face went red quickly, one of his hands going up to lightly brush across one of the blonde locks of hair that covered some of his face. "S-shut up. You're a complete ass." He pouted, quickly turning his head away from Arashi, shaking his head a few times.

"You are really not convincing me otherwise here, Toshiro." Arashi teased further, but got no response other than a glare

The two of them walked mostly in silence for the rest of the time.

Some of the other students were walking nearby, more than likely also on their way to home. A close group of underclassman seemed to be talking to one another rather avidly about something. Noticing this, Arashi did his best to try and listen in on the conversation.

"Did you hear? Sword Art is going to be reaching the end of the beta tonight!"

"Damn. Wasn't it only a thousand people in the world who got a beta copy? Auugh! I wish I was that lucky!"

"You'd have to be pretty important to get one, I heard. Like, rich or something."

"Probably. But the full release of the game is supposed to be only a month after the beta is over, I can't wait to sit outside the game store to get one of the ten thousand copies."

"Yeah right. That's going to be even more impossible. Millions are going to be trying to do the exact same thing. I can't even afford the Nerve Gear system, and neither can you!"

Sword Art Online. Nerve Gear.

How could he have expected anything different to be the topic of conversation? That was what everyone had been buzzing about since the trailer and news release of the only Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (VRMMORPG).

The Nerve Gear itself was one of the most amazing innovations of human technology, with the ability to completely trick your brain into believing something virtual to be real. Full-Dive technology, if he remembered correctly, was what they were calling it. There had been demonstrations of how it worked, with every one of your human senses being transferred into an avatar.

Not being able to tell the difference between what was real and what was virtual. It was as exciting as it was terrifying.

That was some Matrix-level shit right there.

But Sword Art Online was the first game to be created where multiple people could be in the same virtual world at the same time. It was also made by the very creator of the Nerve Gear itself, Kayaba Akihiko. Only a thousand copies were given out for beta testing, and Arashi would be lying if he said that he hadn't at least put in an application. He didn't even have a Nerve Gear!

Though this was fairly common for most people, not having the Nerve Gear. The state of the art equipment was more expensive than most houses in the area that he lived in.

But still, the thought of placing that large helmet of his head...and feeling just how far virtual reality has come...

"Are you going to just keep on walking, Arashi-kun?"

Oh. Shit. He spaced out again. Arashi shook his head quickly and turned around to see Toshiro standing a few paces behind him next to a large black metal gate. He noticed that the black fencing that surrounded the property was covered in foliage, which made seeing through almost impossible.

Come to think of it, Arashi had never seen Toshiro's home before.

"Hey...Toshiro...?"

"Yeah?" He adjusted his glasses a little and tilted his head to the side.

Arashi walked back beside his friend and glanced at the gate. "I've never seen your house before, and...I haven't been to anyone's house since coming here. What if I mess something up or...I don't know, disrespect your family honor or something?"

Toshiro laughed a little bit, pushing the gate open for the both of them. "You'll be fine, my father won't even be home for a few hours. And mom probably won't bother us anyway. We'll be in my room most of the time."

The blonde took a few steps in, and Arashi was soon to follow. The change in atmosphere was almost instantaneous. The sidewalk that they were walking on was now replaced with a light cobblestone walkway, green grass and a yard that was decorated with everything from small ornaments to a small creek running across the property. The pathway lead the both of them over a small bridge, crossing the small waterway.

But what soon caught Arashi's eye was the home itself.

The building itself was large, more than two stories if Arashi had to guess, with white decorated walls each depicting fish swimming. Red wood separated the white walls from one another, which matched and complimented the rest of the house. The front entrance, which their pathway was leading them towards, was lined with lanterns that glowed even in the afternoon sunlight. Under each lantern, a small bonsai tree was placed perfectly under the small light.

In comparison to Arashi's own home, this place was a palace.

Toshiro didn't seem to be phased by the beauty his own home held and continued to walk normally, turning around once he noticed that his friend had slowed down to take in the sight.

"Is there something wrong, Arashi-kun?" Toshiro tilted his head a little.

"Your place is amazing, Toshiro..." Arashi managed to mumble out, taking a few quick steps forward to be at Toshiro's side. The two of them continued onwards to the doorway, Toshiro chuckling softly at Arashi's reaction to his home.

"It's just home, the inside isn't as flashy I swear," Toshiro said, taking his shoes off.

Arashi quickly started to do the same thing. This was the first time that he had been into someone's home, and he didn't want to make any mistakes culture-wise.

At least he'd try not to.

Toshiro opened the door slowly, stepping inside with Arashi following behind him and closing the door once inside.

"Mom! I'm home! And I have Arashi-kun with me!" Toshiro announced, speaking loud enough to be heard through the thin walls.

This, of course, is when Arashi suddenly became extremely nervous. What was he supposed to say when meeting someone's parents for the first time? He was in their home, what did they expect of him? Did his mother know that he didn't speak the language very well? What if he messed up and was never allowed to come back!?

Toshiro was quick to notice the sudden nervousness of Arashi, who reached over and poked Arashi's stomach, whispering with a smile. "You'll be fine, idiot, calm down."

Before Arashi was able to disagree, Toshiro's mother walked into the room from one of the doorways placed at either side of the room.

It seemed that Toshiro had gained most of his looks and size from his mother. She wore a bright yellow sundress, which complimented her long golden hair cascading down beyond her shoulders. Her cerulean eyes that practically sparkled as she caught eye of her son and Arashi. She was just barely taller than Toshiro.

"Ah! Welcome home Shiro-chan! And is this the Arashi-kun that Shiro-chan always talks about?" She seemed to know the answer immediately, noticing how _Shiro-chan_ suddenly went bright red.

"M-mom! You don't need to say it like that!" Toshiro immediately shook his head back and forth, placing his gaze to everywhere but Arashi at this point.

Toshiro's mother tilted her head, putting a finger up to her lips. "Oops! Did I say something wrong?"

Arashi seemed confused, and a long moment of awkward silence was formed as a red Toshiro refused to speak.

Feeling the need to speak and break the awkward silence, Arashi suddenly stood straight and bowed deeply towards Toshiro's mother.

"T-thank you for allowing me into your home for the weekend, and giving me time to be with Toshiro!" He tried to make himself sound as formal as possible, keeping his head bowed the whole time while speaking.

When there was a continued silence, Arashi shut his eyes tightly, thinking he must have said something wrong.

He was proven otherwise by the soft laughter by Toshiro's mother, who waved her hand towards them both with a giggle.

"He's so formal! Did you teach him to do that, Shiro-chan? He's getting much better at speaking since the last time I heard him years ago!" Arashi lifted his head to see that Mrs. Akata had one hand on her cheek, smiling. It was then he remembered that he had met her one before when he had first come to the country and met with Toshiro for the first time. Back then he was barely able to form a sentence without taking multiple pauses in between.

"Y-yeah, he's been doing really well...though I haven't...been...teaching him..." Toshiro seemed to be embarrassed by his mother's use of his name and continued to look away.

"You have such a cute friend, Shiro-chan! You can take him to your room now, the poor boy looks so nervous! It was a pleasure to see you again, Arashi-san!" Mrs. Akata waved one more time, before disappearing through the same doorway that she first came in.

Again, an awkward silence filled the room.

"Y-you..Uhm...wanna go to my room now?" Toshiro mumbled, glancing up towards Arashi.

"Y-yeah..." He replied. They both seemed to be uncomfortable already, and it had been less than a minute of him being here.

Toshiro nodded a little and walked into another room, with Arashi following behind.

Arashi noticed that Toshiro had been mostly right about the inside of the home. Other than the constant use of the fish wallpaper, the inside seemed to be simple and quaint. Small pieces of furniture sat in the rooms, along with small cushions and lamps. Art pieces were scattered neatly about the walls.

Toshiro eventually stopped at the end of a long hallway, turning towards the only door. A small wooden plaque with the name "Toshiro Akata" hung in the middle.

"This is it..." Toshiro seemed nervous and began to slowly open the door, before suddenly closing it after spotting something inside.

"W-wait! I forgot to do something! I need you to wait out here for a second, okay?" Toshiro didn't wait for a reply and quickly opened the door just enough to slide in himself, and closed it behind him.

"O...kay?" Arashi was again confused, he was sure that someone like Toshiro didn't have a messy room. And the sound of shuffling inside only made Arashi all the more curious.

After a minute of the constant shuffling, Arashi glanced around nervously. He wasn't sure if Toshiro had anyone else living with him besides his mother and father and felt really lost standing out in the middle of the hallway alone like this.

"Okay...you can come in now Arashi-kun"

That was all Arashi had been waiting to hear, quickly opening the room and walking inside.

Toshiro's room was different from the rest of the house, with sky blue wallpaper (still adorned with fish) instead of the white the rest of the house used. The floor was mostly covered by a large square rug placed in the center of the room, it being a pearl white. Also placed in the middle of the room was a very short glass table, rimmed by black wood. A sitting cushion was placed on either side of the table, these being a light shade of pink.

Unsurprisingly, one of his walls was almost entirely covered by a bookshelf, each section of which being filled almost completely with books. Beside the bookshelf was a wooden desk with a lamp, fitted with a rather large computer setup. This was no doubt where Toshiro spent most of his time studying. On the side next to the door they just came in through sat a small dresser.

Toshiro's bed was placed at the side corner of the room, the head of the bed being placed right under a window that had a perfect view of what looked to be a garden. The blue curtains were parted and pinned to the wall, for now, letting light flood the room.

At the foot of Toshiro's bed sat two large boxes, completely covered with white sheets. It looked like a really desperate way to try and hide something in a room where you couldn't hide anything.

Toshiro himself sat cross-legged on his bed, the blue sheets being slightly misplaced. He had changed out of his school uniform, now wearing a loose long-sleeved blue shirt with large buttons spaced down the front with matching, lighter blue, loose pants. Was he already dressed in sleeping clothes? The blonde boy looked up expectantly towards Arashi, giving a nervous smile.

"Welcome to my room, Arashi-Kun!" Toshiro greeted him with a wave.

"It's a cute room, _Shiro-Chan_ " Arashi chuckled a little, dropping his bag next to the door's entrance and stepping a bit more inside, only to be hit in the face by a pillow by a rather red Toshiro.

Arashi chuckled and picked up the pillow, fluffing it a little bit. "I'm just teasing you, _Shiro-Chan._ There's no need to get all embarrassed like that." He tossed the pillow back lightly, which Toshiro caught and hugged it close.

"Ass." He said simply, pushing his face into the pillow.

Arashi rolled his eyes a little at his timid friend, going over to the desk and turning the chair around to sit. "So...What's under the sheets over there? Hiding some dark secrets from me are you? I thought we were friends!?" Arashi put his hands over his heart, giving a face of mock hurt and betrayal.

"I-it's a surprise for after dinner, when I'm sure that we won't be interrupted for the rest of the night" Toshiro responded, laying down on his side on his bed, still watching Arashi.

Arashi spun around a little in the desk chair, looking around the spinning room before landing perfectly facing Toshiro. "Okay...so what are we going to do in the meantime? When are we gonna have dinner?"

"Probably in the next hour or so when my father gets home from work..." Toshiro rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "Though to be honest with you, Arashi-kun, I'm really excited with what is in those boxes."

Arashi crossed his arms. "Now who's the one teasing?" He huffed and rolled the desk chair over towards the bed, leaning his head a foot or so over Toshiro's. "Ass."

Toshiro stuck his tongue out, smiling.

"I'll bite that tongue if you keep it out." Arashi threatened, glaring downwards towards the blonde.

"Please do." Toshiro quickly remarked, now smirking.

Arashi turned beat red and pushed off from the bed frame and rolled across the floor in the chair, spinning slightly.

"Oh Goddamn it, Toshiro. You can't just say something like that to a guy!" Arashi spun around a little quicker in the seat, never focusing on one thing.

"Says the person who said they'd bite my tongue, you had it coming!" Toshiro was chuckling, sitting up in his bed and returning to the cross-legged position.

"Ass," Arashi said simply.

"Blushing Wimp" Toshiro retorted.

"Nerd." Arashi locked eyes with Toshiro, his world still spinning slightly.

"Better grades than you'd ever hope to have." Toshiro met his eyes and smirked.

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"You said it not me."

"Hmph. Ass."

"American."

"See now you're just being racist."

"I stated a fact."

"Half the school thinks you're a girl."

"Now that's just an opinion, how can you know the exact amount of people that think that compared to those that don't, specifically in our school?"

"Smartass."

The both of them were grinning widely at this point, breaking out into chuckles and finally a small bout of laughter.

"I'm glad you're my friend, you nerd." Arashi rested his head on the back of the chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, you too, idiot." Toshiro fell back into his bed and did the same as his friend.

The both of them sat/laid in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the calmness that came with being home after a day of school.

"I'm home everyone!" A voice called out from somewhere in the house.

"My dad's home early.."Toshiro mumbled a little, rolling himself out of bed.

"Come on, we better go say hi to him at least and let him know we both got here okay," Toshiro said, going over to the door.

Arashi got out of the chair, legs a little wobbly from spinning around so much, and followed Toshiro back through the same hallways as before. Arashi felt the familiar nervousness bubble come to his throat as he was reminded that was not only his friend's father but also his principal.

The two of them entered the main room just in time to see Mr. and Mrs. Akata lightly embraced. Both of which were smiling. was a much taller man, standing taller than Arashi was. It made for a rather comedic comparison in heights for himself and his wife. Mrs. Akata seemed to have been in the middle of cooking, as she wore an apron and had a light grip on a wooden spoon.

"Welcome home, father," Toshiro said with a small smile, bowing quickly.

Arashi quickly said the same thing, not realizing until after he spoke that he specifically quoted Toshiro.

Mrs. Akata started giggling, while Mr. Akata had an amused smile on his face.

"Now now, Mr. Kobayashi, calling me your father is not going to be doing anything for your grades. It also shows your level of understanding of the language, I thought Toshiro would have taught you better." Mr. Akata sounded more amused than reprimanding, but Arashi felt the same wave of embarrassment wash over his face. His ears burned with it.

Mrs. Akata lightly hit the chest of her husband, giving a cute but annoyed look. "Husband, I already embarrassed the poor boy earlier, don't be mean or you will be sitting without food at the dinner table." She threatened, holding up her wooden spoon.

Mr. Akata closed his eyes and waved his hand cautiously. "Fine fine dear, I'll let the boy be. I trust that the two of them will behave during Arashi-san's stay here for the weekend." He spoke to his wife but his look was directed towards Toshiro and Arashi.

"Y-yes sir, of course, sir," Arashi said, still incredibly nervous and flushed from his previous mistake.

"Of course, father." Toshiro smiled, suppressing another chuckle.

"Dinner will be ready in just a minute, so you all can take your seat at the table." Mrs. Akata smiled as she spoke, disappearing into the same doorway she came out of the first time.

With varying degrees of eagerness, the three in the room followed behind her.

* * *

Dinner went by a lot quieter than Arashi thought that it should have.

The meal was fantastic. Curry with spiced meat was one of the foods that Arashi came to enjoy greatly when he moved here. He took care to eat slowly and not give in fully to his hunger, which earned him a very appreciative glance from Toshiro.

Toshiro's parents sat side by side at the table, with Mrs. Akata sometimes whispering something into Mr. Akata's ear, who would then glance at either Toshiro or Arashi. Most of the time it was both. The most conversation that went on openly was Mr. Akata asking about how he was doing in the country since his move two years ago.

"W-well I suppose...I struggle with a lot still, but I'm getting slowly better at speaking and writing..." Arashi half-mumbled.

"As I can see. You're no native speaker, that's for sure." Arashi felt his heart sink a little, but then Mr .Akata continued. "But you are improving and getting better. That's the best that someone can hope for, improvement." He smiled a little, then continued to eat.

"A-ah...thank you, sir," Arashi replied, then went silent and ate quietly.

After being excused from dinner, Arashi helped Toshiro clean the dining room quickly, before the both of them tried to retreat to Toshiro's room.

They were quickly stopped by Mr. Akata.

"Bed before midnight." He said simply, before returning to the kitchen with his wife.

* * *

Toshiro grew excited as the both of them entered his room once more. He quickly leaped onto his bed and turned to Arashi.

"Are you ready for something amazing?" Toshiro asked excitedly, reaching his hand over towards the two boxes that had been covered with sheets.

"If it is actually just two boxes I swear I'll hit you." Arashi chuckled and took his seat in the desk chair again, rolling over beside the bed.

"I'd be more than disappointed if it was just the box, with what these cost." Toshiro grinned, and slowly started to pull away the covers.

Arashi's eyes widened quickly as the first box was revealed.

Painted on one side was a large, futuristic-looking helmet. It was slightly elongated at the back, with three glowing lights on the edge where the user's face would be. Jet black in color, the letters "NVG" were printed in bold on the front of the helmet, with other writing being obscured at the angle the picture was at.

Printed at the bottom of the illustration laid the words that solidified Arashi's shock.

"Nerve Gear" He whispered, barely able to be heard.

"And that's not all, Arashi-kun" Toshiro spoke softly, smiling in honest happiness at his friend's shock.

The blonde held up two small cases in his hands, two copies of the same game.

In large, bold letters, the word "Beta" was printed across the case.

"I was able to get the systems awhile ago...but I bought the two copies off of two people who didn't like the game after they got it...we only have until midnight to play, since that is when the beta closes but...we're both guaranteed full copies once the game come out...but we can play together for the rest of the night."

Arashi was still in shock, staring directly at the boxes, then towards the two copies of the single most anticipated game of all time.

Toshiro reached out and waved a hand in front of Arashi's face, smiling widely.

"Hey, idiot. Are you going to stare or are we going to tear into these boxes and get ready to play with the other beta testers for the rest of the night? It's already 6" Toshiro stuck his tongue out and tossed a copy of the game into Arashi's lap.

"Hell yeah..." He whispered, eyes fixated on the blue game case laying on him. " _Hell. To the yeah._ "

Arashi jumped out of the chair, grinning wildly as he held the case up.

"Aincrad awaits!"

* * *

It didn't take too long to set the two Nerve Gear systems up. After opening the boxes they realized that a majority of the box itself was filled with an insulator foam to make sure that the contents were completely safe and unharmed.

Arashi didn't want to think about what would happen if something was wrong with a device that was practically overwriting your own brain. Probably not something pretty.

Something that Arashi never realized was that the actual system itself was just the helmet with a small port on the side to connect it to the internet, and another small cable that connects to the computer.

"It says here that the system calibrates specifically for the person that is wearing it, and takes about 5 minutes to completely set up." Of course, Toshiro was reading the manuals and instructions.

"That should be fine, I guess." Arashi shrugged, slightly annoyed that they couldn't just put the helmets on and go right into the game.

"Users are recommended to have the helmet calibrate while laying down, as they may experience nausea, dizziness, hot flashes and phantom touches." Toshiro quoted aloud, "Huh. A full body scan and calibration? This is some really amazing stuff, Arashi-kun."

It was a little concerning, but Arashi was not going to miss his chance at something exclusive to only a thousand people. The full scan seemed a bit intrusive in his mind, or rather to his mind, but if so many people with the Nerve Gear have already gone through this then it must have been safe. They wouldn't release a system like this if they haven't crushed any of the bugs in the code.

He hoped.

The calibrations were over quickly. They both did it at the same time, both of them at least slightly worried about the strange machine that they put over their heads.

A few quick beeps, a little warmness over the body, the feeling of falling for half a second that made both of them gasp. Done. A message appeared on their visors.

 _ **Starting calibrations complete.**_

Toshiro got up before Arashi was able to. A small tilt of his head allowed him to watch as Toshiro placed both game disks into his computer, and connect each of their respective helmets into two slots in the back. The two-monitor setup that Toshiro had worked great in this case, with one bootup coming up on each screen.

A small light flashed over Arashi's visor, and the logo for the Nerve Gear systems came into vision before his eyes. A female A.I voiced through the helmet, reading the next screen to pop up.

 _ **Booting: Sword Art Online**_

Arashi felt his excitement hit a new peak, almost wishing that Toshiro would hurry up and finish.

"Alright..." he heard Toshiro mumble, before he ran over and joined Arashi on the bed.

They laid opposite to one another, with Arashi being closer to the end of the bed and Toshiro closest to the wall. They both grinned as their eyes met from across the bed.

A new set of words flashed over their screen.

 _ **Start Sword Art Online?**_

"Here we come, Aincrad. Ready Toshiro?" Arashi glanced past the screen.

Toshiro gave another thumbs up. "On three?"

"On three." Arashi repeated.

"One" Arashi felt his heart rate double.

"Two" Toshiro glanced down at Arashi, before closing his eyes entirely.

"Three! Link Start!" They spoke in sync.

There was a small beep, and then the world faded away.

* * *

He was falling.

It eerily reminded him too much of those rare times when he would drifting off to sleep, only to jerk awake. Only this was much, much worse. Terror gripped him as he continued to fall into an eternal pit of nothingness.

Color exploded outwards from below him, and suddenly he was assaulted with a barrage of senses. A strong pressure pushed down on every inch of skin that he had. He tasted salt, then sugar, then every other variety of flavor imaginable. White noise dug into his brain, leaving little room for anything besides terror at the sensory overload. The white noise slowly began to clear into a high-pitched squeal, but no matter what Arashi tried he could not rid himself of the now painful sound.

In an instant, it was all over. The colors that had assaulted his eyes even while closed turned into pure, blinding white. His legs, albeit shakily, found solid ground. The boy breathed raggedly, as if just again realizing that he needed air. In a panic, he tried to look around. He felt his head move, but his vision shifted seconds after the actual motion had been made.

He attempted to move his head again, lightly shaking it back and forth, and again his vision sluggishly mimicked what his actual movements were.

Input lag?

He swore under his breath a little, and slowly began to look around. He noticed that his vision was starting to catch up with him faster and faster, and within a minute it seemed to have synched completely. He was thankful for that. Much more of that and he was sure to be sick.

 _ **New User Registered. Calibration 100% Complete. Continue to Sword Art Online? Y/N**_

A menu popped up in front of his vision, startling him. He had almost forgotten that none of this was real, it sure felt real to him though.

Curiously, he reached a hand up and tapped his finger where the ' _ **Y**_ ' was. The menu fell away into blue pixels, which melded into the ground.

Two words floated up from the same spot where the menu fell, and in an instant all the previous terror turned into pure excitement as he read.

 _ **Aincrad Awaits**_

* * *

 **Welp! There's chapter one! It felt really slow-paced, I know.**

 **In the NEXT chapter, however, we will be having our first steps in the world of Aincrad! (Which also means actually giving a physical description of our main character! Haha...now the lack of that in the first chapter is justified. Shut up.)**

 **If you liked it, please be sure to tell me! If this story starts to go over well with people, I have a whole bunch of other ideas that'd I'd be willing to get started on as well!**

 **Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Uhm...I wrote "Author's Note" before even knowing what to write.**

I don't own Sword Art.

* * *

Tonight was the night.

A small electric alarm clock cast off a green glow over a small portion of an even smaller room.

The clock read 12:50.

10 more minutes.

Arashi was both restless and dead tired..

Arashi turned in his bed, letting out a grunt as his back adjusted slightly to the new position. He stared at the clock, watching as only a single minute passed by in what felt like an eternity. It was already past midnight and his body was screaming for him to rest, yet tonight he was not going to give it that satisfaction.

The Sword Art servers open in less than 10 minutes.

A sharp ping noise came from somewhere under his bed-covers, causing Arashi to blindly try and grope around for the small device. He covered his eyes slightly with his hand as the sudden harsh light assaulted his eyes. He had a message.

" _Hey, you up and ready? ^w^_ "

Toshiro.

" _Of course? I'm only awake due to sheer willpower and several cups of coffee, and I don't know if either of those are going to be keeping me up much longer. Damn servers opening a whole 12 hours later than they were supposed to."_ He responded.

" _Probably some last minute bug fixes, just made waiting that much more exciting! We only got to play the beta, and that was already so amazing. With the full release, I'm sure everything is going to be even better!"_

Arashi noted the time again.

5 more minutes.

Another ping.

 _"We're both making new characters for this right? I never want to play as the first character ever again, that was scary. T.T "_ The unfortunate Toshiro loaded into the game using the last player's character and ended up with a very large, muscular paladin-esque character that wielded a large two-handed hammer. He was NOT happy.

Arashi chuckled. _"Yeah, we are. I didn't really like playing as someone else, it felt_ really _...I don't know...off? Not as off as it must have felt for you, but..."_

 _"Yeah, I know what you mean. Brb for just a second, letting mom know that I shouldn't be messed with while the gear is on. She worries."_ Toshiro's messenger light switched to 'afk' before Arashi could message him back.

He let his phone fall out of his hand and onto the bed, rolling over onto his back again.

Had it really been a full month since he was last in that game? It felt like so much longer.

"Aincrad..." He whispered, thinking back to that first day.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

* * *

 _ **Previous character data available. Would you like to calibrate to the already existing character? (Full release will allow one additional chance to create a new character or change the original appearance of one previously existing. Please note that all characters will be reset to level 1 upon full release.)**_

Of course. This was someone else's beta copy of the game after all, it still held the original character that the previous owner had made before selling the copy away.

While Arashi was tempted to immediately delete the last character on file and make his own, knowing that everything was just going to reset in the end made him a little curious about the already available character.

He shrugged. It wasn't like there was much to lose. Given that they only had about 6 hours to actually play the game itself, Arashi did not actually expect to make much progress towards anything in particular.

He hit continue.

The world changed drastically in a moment as he was quickly enveloped in a pillar of multicolor light. A feeling of extreme vertigo gripped him as his perspective shifted upwards. He was getting taller. And heavier.

The latter of which became apparent as pixels of light started to swarm over his body, first pressing softly against his skin, before coloring into a large padded clothing. It felt like he was wearing a mattress. Another set of pixels started to form overtop of the padded clothing, this time clinging rigidly to him. When the pixels colored, it revealed a full body set of steel armor. The same process happened with the rest of his body, save for his head.

The armor fit him perfectly, but still felt rather heavy on him. Restrictive.

More pixels swirled upwards to his waistline, first forming a sheath attached to his belt. The rest of the pixels shined brightly, slowly coloring and rendering out a longsword in front of him. It looked like the standard starter sword from most games, except much more real. The blade, as it was revealed, was incredibly sharp-looking and shined to perfection.

Arashi quickly reached out and gripped the weapon with both hands, immediately thankful that he did as it seemed to gain its weight as he grabbed it. It only took a small amount of effort to hold up, which surprised him due to the size of the weapon.

He gave it a test-swing and grinned. This was, by far, the most amazing experience that he had ever had and it was only the first minute of him actually Full-Diving! He had yet to even fully load in the game! He slowly sheathed the sword at his side, closing his eyes for a moment as he listened to the metal sliding into the leather. He could feel its weight at his side.

Before he could open his eyes, he heard a small sound. Like a chime.

His eyes opened, and he gasped.

Starting from his feet, the world began to render at an alarming pace all around him at once. The white nothingness that he stood on turned into cobblestone, and as fast as he could look, he could see.

He was standing on a road, grassy plains on either side of him. There was a breeze that gently began to push his now-black, long hair along with it. The sudden feeling made him shiver a little, looking around in bewilderment at the marvel that was all around him. With each movement that he made, his armor moved and clanged along with him.

Turning around, Arashi's thoughts momentarily stopped as he gasped.

A huge city, no. Huge did not even begin to describe the town that he saw. A gigantic city surrounded by a huge wall was only a few miles away from where he stood. Squinting a little, he could barely make out the large gate that connected with the snaking road that he was on. The previous player must have logged off while walking away from the city.

As he stared at the city long enough words began to appear overtop of it, perfectly clear in his sight.

 _ **Town of Beginnings**_

Arashi sighed. Finding Toshiro in the game was a complete pain and mostly where the time that they had was spent. They both chose characters that they didn't know the names of themselves, and with no knowledge of how to even open the menu there was a lot of walking around the middle of town calling for one another. Arashi called a few times, before realizing even his voice was different. It was very deep, almost demanding-like.

Damn. Character customization in this game was actually fantastic.

After getting the help of another player he was pointed off to the spawn point of all new players, a large fountain in the middle of town.

He met Toshiro there by luck and, after Arashi laughing about Toshiro's character being the exact opposite of how he really was, the two of them went off and explored the town.

Both were surprised by just how real everything felt. Npc's called out from their shops, which other players flocked towards and held full conversations with. Blacksmith shops were filled with weapons large and small of almost any variety, and restaurants and inns were flooded with players that were showing off what they had done and accomplished over the last few months that the beta had been released.

When they reached the inn, Arashi realized that each of the players had their name above their head, as well as a small green crystal. It reminded him of the Sims, for some odd reason.

There, they were able to talk to a few of the other players that had been playing since the beginning. They spoke of the many cities that were spread out over the large base floor, and how quests worked.

And most importantly, how to open the menu.

When questioned how the duo didn't know any of this, they both explained how they bought a beta copy from people that were not so into the full-dive technology that made the game possible. At least, that's what they guessed. It very well could have been for the money. The random played shrugged and welcomed them to the game, before heading back to a different table.

By the time that the servers were shutting down, both Toshiro and Arashi had learned just enough to have a good head start compared to those new to the game.

* * *

End of Flashback

* * *

His phone was constantly buzzing now, finally catching the attention of it's owner.

A long line of messages, all from Toshiro, spammed across his screen.

 _"Hey? I'm back. Are you there?"_

 _"Hello? Arashi-kun?"_

 _"If you fell asleep I swear..."_

 _"Hey, there's a minute left!"_

 _"WAKE UP ARASHI-KUN!"_

 _"I'm loading in now..."_

Arashi quickly glanced at the time, eyes widening in shock as he realized that he was over a minute late into the log-in!

"Shit!" He cursed quietly, quickly placing the large helmet over his head. The system's cold metal caused his skin to tighten up as he rushed the system into place, quickly booting it up in the process.

Looking through the visor he quickly texted Toshiro back, telling him that he was loading in and was sorry he didn't respond and that they should meet up at the beginning fountain in the middle of the city.

"Shit shit shit, I still have to make a character and everything. Shit." He swore again, tapping his fingers against his thigh repeatedly as he waited for the small bar on the Nerve Gear visor to complete.

"Come on, come on come on...There! Link Start!"

The words on the screen never even got to finish, and his world fell to darkness again.

* * *

5 Minutes Later

* * *

There were over a thousand people standing around at the beginning fountain. New players looked onwards in awe and amazement at just how real everything was, from the feel of the clothing to the way interactions work with Npc's. The general air of bewilderment was upon each and every soul that walked around. Even the beta testers, those who were able to experience all this beforehand, were still taken aback as the world of Aincrad continued to amaze and impress them.

A new figure stepped out into the world, his body appearing from a solid column of light that signified the starting point of each new player. He wore the standard starting gear that each new character got, a choice of color shirt with a small leather chest piece that strapped around both his back and his shoulders, which really did nothing to waver off a determined blade. One of which was strung onto his back, hilt reaching up past his shoulder for quick access. This particular player's shirt was a bright orange, which contrasted greatly with the loose black pants that he had chosen. Red hair, just long enough to just barely cover his eyes, flowed about in the gentle breeze that constantly flowed through the town. Cerulean eyes darted back and forth among the crowd, already searching for someone.

And above his head, alongside a green crystal, read _**"Arashi"**_.

Said person stretched his arms out a bit. There was not much to get used to, since he was technically playing as himself. The Nerve Gear system had scanned everything correctly and he felt completely normal, save for some minor editing with his hair color. The natural brown-haired boy had dyed it red for years, enjoying the rustic color that came when the dye faded eventually. It looked nice enough as it was, so he decided to keep it that way in the game world too. Everything else was the same. It felt more comfortable to be in his own body and to stay with something he was used to, rather than have to get used to someone taller or shorter or with a different body in general.

Now, all he had to do was wait for Toshiro to find him. Surprisingly, his name wasn't taken in the server list, so Toshiro would be sure to find him that way even if they couldn't find one another in the large mess of people that surrounded the starting fountain.

Arashi found a small bench at the opposite end of the fountain and sat himself down. Most of the people were starting to filter out now, probably going off to enjoy their time in the world, grind for XP or...whatever they wanted to do really. SAO was a game that supposedly had an infinite amount of skills to level, meaning an effectively infinite amount of game time. Add in that Aincrad was a 100-floor style of game that beta testers were only able to get to -apparently- a third of the way through after 5 months of constantly playing together ensured that the game would not be dying off anytime soon.

More and more people began to head out, and after 10 minutes Arashi was starting to get a little worried. There was still a good amount of people in the starting area, but none of them that he could see looked like Toshiro at all, or had his name.

He sighed, opening up his menu. With a quick flick of his finger, the scroll-wheel spun downward quickly like a slot machine, the simple act being enough to amuse the redhead for the time being.

"...Arashi-kun?" Someone said rather timidly and quietly in front of the boy.

Arashi tried to glance up from his menu, but found his vision blocked by the large 'help' section that he had opened up and read in the meantime. He could have only been entertained by the spinning menu for so long.

"Toshiro? Here, gimme just a second to get rid of this menu..somehow." Arashi started scrolling through and tapped the air a few more times. Finally, they all closed out completely.

When all of the menu was gone, Arashi smiled and looked up from his seat.

He had to stop his jaw from dropping.

"T-Toshiro...?"

* * *

 **Oh boy. A cliffhanger.**

 **I'll probably write the next chapter tomorrow, I just wanted to get another small chunk of this out of the way. What could have POSSIBLY happened with Toshiro?**

 **I'm very tired.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes: I started writing the author's notes without thinking about what I am actually going to write again**

I guess I should take this moment to explain a few things about the story and where it is going to go.

 **The original concept of the whole story, before I gave it a reboot, was to be a complete recreation of the whole world and each of the floors. I had put a lot of work into MY version of AIncrad, which included tons of files about the different floors and what kind of quests would be available, bosses, items, etc. Along for the ride was the character, Arashi, who was pretty much just an angsty teen.**

 **But since those files are now completely gone, I'm going off of memory of what I had before and am creating things as I go now. THIS world of Aincrad is going to be different in most if not all aspects of the original work, but I am going to be doing my best to make the world feel just as alive and intriguing.**

 **Even now as I am writing all of this a bunch of my previous thoughts and ideas come back to my head, which makes me stop writing for minutes at a time to write down what I remembered so I have it saved for later.**

 **The story is going to have a slow start, but I am hoping that is going to change by the end of this chapter so the real story can begin.**

 **For those of you that are enjoying what I have put out so far, I'm happy to have made something enjoyable. For those that don't end up liking this story, I'd like to at least know why and how I can improve! (Be gentle 3 )**

 **Until then, here is the third chapter!**

 **P.S: GIVE ME MOTIVATION TO WRITE MORE WITH REVIEWS AND FAVORITES AND STUFF**

* * *

"T-toshiro..?" Arashi stuttered out, seeing someone who was definitely _not_ the Toshiro he knew.

The player before him was, first off, female.

The starting equipment was the same as the male equivalent, with a few additional options being given depending on style choices. This player wore a long-sleeve baggy cyan shirt that would have done exceptionally well to hide any female curves she had if it had not been for the female variant of the leather chestpiece, which hugged tightly to the small curvature of (had he guessed) B-cup breasts.

Her white skirt, which only came down to her lower thigh, waved lightly in the soft breeze as Arashi openly stared at the girl.

She blinked, reaching up a hand to part her curled blonde hair, a look of confusion on her face.

She looked like a much younger version of Toshiro's mother.

And above her head was the name _**"Shiro"**_

"Toshiro?," She questioned, tilting her head a little bit. "No I haven't seen him, but I'm glad that I finally found you Arashi-kun! I thought you had fallen asleep after I left to assure my mother not to worry."

"I thought you left me all alone, you idiot..."She crossed her arms over her breasts and looked way with a small blush, pouting.

WhattheHell?

Arashi's eyes were wide as he stared down the girl in front of him, coming to the realization that this really _was_ Toshiro. Or, at least, Toshiro's new character. Toshiro was always effeminate and often got confused for being a girl in the real world. But now...this was 100% unmistakable. Arashi had no idea what to think and continued to stare, slack-jawed.

 _Shiro_ fidgeted a little nervously under his gaze, knowing that he was staring at her so intensely.

"I-it's still me, Arashi-kun..." She placed herself on the bench as far away from him as she could, looking away. "I made a female character this time, t-though you probably came to that conclusion already..." She seemed incredibly nervous now, and it confused the redhead.

"Well...yeah, I kinda figured that out..." He wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Is it a problem...?" Her voice got much softer, almost unhearable.

Arashi quickly shook his head. "No no! Not at all, it just really caught me off guard...I guess?"

"It's not weird or anything?" She looked towards him now, smiling a little bit. She was beautiful.

' _Oh this is more than weird.'_ Arashi kept the thought to himself, shaking his head again for no. This was definitely going to take a lot of getting used to, he thought.

"Well...good!" She smiled happily. _Shiro_ reached out and grabbed his hand, getting up and pulling him along with her. "Now come on, we gotta go head to the shops and gear up with our starting gold, as well as sell out beginning gear. After that, on to grinding!" She cheered, dragging Arashi along with her.

* * *

Arashi sighed, currently looking around the weapons shop as he had been for the last 10 minutes. After Shiro, whom he was getting used to calling disturbingly quickly, had dragged him to the shop they both browsed around to sell and buy equipment. This was one of the starting tips that some of the beta players told them about, and how the starting equipment could be sold while at its highest durability to have just enough for a low-tier armor and a new starting weapon.

Arashi found a new steel chestplate, roughly the size of the leather one that he got rid of, that offered much better protection while still classifying as lighter armor. It was still quite a long ways off from being anything good but offered better stats and durability to help him live longer.

Now strapped on back was a steel shortsword, which held the same stats as the starter sword but had more than triple the durability of the previous weapon. Another decent start. The less time that a player had to spend maintaining their armors and gear, the more time that they could spend grinding and therefore get better gear faster.

Arashi chuckled. He's played way too many games.

"Alright! I think I'm ready!" Arashi turned around to face Shiro, then smiled. She had done mostly the same as he did, going for the steel chestplate, which now looked more like a reverse mold for her breasts. That was still taking some getting used to. Her sword, which he quickly realized to be the same starting sword she had before, hung on her back. He was about to question her about why it took her so long, but then a small menu popped up on his screen.

 _ **You have received a gift of x5 "Vials of Healing" from "Shiro!"**_

Potions? A quick glance back at his funds almost made him facepalm. Spending his starting character gold on both a better armor piece and a better weapon left him without enough money or even a single potion.

"Thanks Tosh-...Thanks Shiro, I completely forgot. But did that really have to take you 10 minutes?" He tapped his foot, appreciative and thankful for his friend's thoughtfulness.

"No, not really. I was just looking over the items lists and planning ahead for future purchases. That way when we go out to grind, we know when we'll have enough to upgrade to better things so we could be more efficient." She stated matter-of-factly, smiling contently with her plan.

"Sounds good I guess. Are we gonna head out to grind now, level up a few times before we pass out? Not that I have any plans tomorrow, but I'm still pretty tired." Arashi yawned a little.

"Couldn't we just sleep in the game...? It's not like that would be any different than in real life." Shiro suggested, walking with Arashi out of the store and into the streets.

Most of the city was still infested with people, making it hard for the two of them to comfortably walk along the main roads together. Players of all body types, genders and ages walked around talking, basking in amazement of the virtual world all around them. More than a few times he watched as overly-forward male players hit on the female ones, some a little more forward than others, which only earned the npc guards' attention.

Both watched as one of the male characters was dragged away, yelling obscenities, a rather content woman crossing her arms as she thanked a guard.

This may be a video game, but it was definitely not a game where you could get away with everything.

"Some of those guys are complete creeps..." Shiro mumbled, shying away from any hungry looks that occasionally landed on her from any passing male.

"None of them will get the chance to do anything to you," Arashi said, grabbing a hold of her hand and leading her down one of the many alleyways that cut towards the main exit of the city. Shiro was blushing brightly, staring at the hand that led her away from her worries.

Arashi stared ahead, continuing to walk quickly through the crowds of people. The road that lead to the outside of the city seemed a lot less populated, with many of the players branching out to explore the city rather than to leave it to grind.

He finally let out a sigh of relief once they were outside the walls of the city, releasing his hold on Shiro and directing his attention instead to the world around them. He started to laugh a little bit, which earned a really confused look from his new female companion.

"Look at all this! We're actually here, isn't it amazing? We're back! Look at this grass, it's real I tell you!" He reached down and pulled a handful of grass up from the land and did a slow turn, grinning widely towards Shiro as he let the blades of grass float away on the wind.

His smile seemed infectious, and she soon found herself giggling along with him in happiness. "You're so weird, you know that? You get over excited over the littlest things, I swear." She rolled her eyes and covered her mouth as she laughed softly.

"I'm in the greatest gaming phenomenon of the century with my best friend, all of this makes for the most amazing day ever. How can I NOT be excited?" He pulled out his sword and gave a few practice slashes in the air with it.

Shiro's smile got much brighter, blushing once again from her friend. "You're crazy, Arashi-kun. Are we going to spend the whole time cutting the air and picking up grass, or are you going to go kill some monsters?"

Arashi rested the flat side of his sword on the metal that folded over his shoulder, looking off in the distance. He didn't see any signs of players out in the fields, or any mobs that they could fight. That was strange, since this was the place that they were told about to farm up at lower lev-

He stopped, staring in the same area again. The large grassy fields that spanned out for miles all around them was completely bare, which didn't seem right. He scanned the area again, squinting his eyes a little as he tried to spot anything moving.

 _ **Perception increased to level 2!**_

The words spawned into existence in the bottom right of his vision, accompanied by a small chime that range in his ears. It surprised him just enough to issue a curious glance from Shiro.

"Apparently I leveled up _**Perception**_ ," Arashi said.

Shiro raised a brow, "Well...what did you perceive? I don't see anything around here to really...spot?" She turned her head a little.

Arashi shrugged, looking back in the same spot. Something happened to his vision then, the distance seemed to be a little clearer. And suddenly, he could spot grey blurrs up ahead moving around slowly.

"What are those...?" He pointed, trying to focus on whatever it was he was seeing.

Shiro looked confused and walked a little ahead of him. "I don't see anything over there Arashi-kun..." She turned to him with a slight look of concern. "Are you sure you shouldn't log out and sleep...if you're so tired that you are seeing things..."

Arashi shook his head a few times. "That can't be it, look right over there! Right where I'm pointing!" He went up to her and put his cheek against her head and directed her to look where he was.

Suppressing another blush, she squinted and tried to see what he could. A brief look of surprise came over her face, and she smiled and nodded. "Oh I see them now! There must be a certain range for spotting things in the system, hence the perception skill."

"That might be it, I don't remember having to level that up when we went looking for things though. I wonder what that skill is going to be like when it's completely maxed..." That was something pretty amazing in itself, the way that skills are apparently infinite in number and as long as you put the effort into it, could improve at anything. At least,that's what was speculated.

Shiro nudged his shoulder a little bit, gaining his attention. "Wanna go kill some of those blurs and get a good look at what they are, inside and out?" She giggled, despite how dark that sounded.

"That was really dark...and really cute at the same time. You're messing up my head here, Toshiro- er...Shiro..." He shook his head a little as she giggled at his reaction, before setting off towards the blurs sword-drawn.

* * *

The next 4 hours went by quickly.

The blurs that they had rushed towards had turned out to be small _**Wild Boars**_ which ranged in level from 1 to 5, and seemed passive until you attacked first. The both of them took slashes and swings at the animals, their cuts digging into the beasts and revealing "bleeding pixels" that looked like blood-red hexagons, signified damage. The beasts attacked the same way, charging forward to slash at their opponent with their tusks. Arashi rolled and dodged out of the way of most attacks, learning that really being tossed back by a charging boar was not something that he wanted to get used to.

With each pig slain, a small menu popped up and rewarded them with 24 Xp and 30 Cor, the currency that the game used.

They continued to battle and kill the boars, soon finding that they could be killed quickly if stabbed or damaged in certain parts of their body. Positional damage was confirmed.

Occasionally they had to stop when their equiptment was getting close to breaking, heading back to town momentarily to pay a small repair fee as well as a few more potions. Some other players started to join them out at the field, casually attacking and killing the low-levelled beasts. By the time that the duo had felt they killed enough, it was already becoming crowded with other players.

They each leveled up three times by then, making them level 4 now.

Presently, the sun was starting to set. It seemed that the server launching started the day-night cycle a little off, but the sunlight did help to keep Arashi awake. Both he and Shiro were yawning as they made their way back to the town for the last time.

"This was fantastic Arashi-kun, more than worth the lack of sleep." Shiro stretched her back out as she yawned, they were almost back inside of the city.

"Yeah it was, but I'm about ready to pass out from exhaustion. Actually swinging around a sword for the last few hours was great and all, but I think I'm gonna take the day tomorrow to sleep and maybe explore around a little." Arashi yawned as well, half-slumped over as he tiredly waved towards the guards that stood outside the walls.

"The wilderness is dangerous when night comes, it's best to stay inside the walls when darkness falls. Monsters become much more aggressive and powerful." The guard spoke.

"We're not going out anymore tonight, I think me and her are going to be heading to sleep soon enough." Arashi spoke for them, momentarily forgetting that he just spoke to some computer program.

The guard nodded. "Very well, Arashi. I wish you and Shiro a good night. _**The Guardsmen**_ shall protect the city walls with our lives in the meantime" It felt odd to have his name be said like that, this place really was too lifelike at times.

Shiro yawned again, earning a light glare from the redhead. "Yeah I'm tired too. Let's go sell off all these items and logout, we have more than enough for some much better gear."

The blacksmith's shop was not that large of a place. The home itself was located along the market district of the city, set off in its own corner. It was only one story high and constantly seemed to give off a black smoke from the outside forge, which constantly glowed a hot orange from the burning coals. Anvils, tanning racks and grinding stones were available to those that wanted to train in any crafting skill, which some of the players seemed to be interested in.

The blacksmith himself was named Gil, and was a large heavily tanned man that constantly smelled of charcoal. He held a very thick scottish accent, or whatever the equivalent of that was in Aincrad. He wore a simple white apron, long stained black from his time working the forge, and a protective metal mask that he kept clipped to his belt for when he worked the forge for the players or to create new wares.

He greeted them with a large smile. "Ah! Arashi and Shiro, welcome back to the shop! Got some more hides to sell to me?"

Arashi simply nodded, opening up his inventory and depositing everything except for his clothing into the _**Sell**_ portion of the menu, then accepted. He was then rewarded with a good amount of cor and grinned when he realized that he was able to purchase anything that was sold in his shop now. That was going to be fun later.

"H-hey...Arashi-kun? I can't open up my menu to go into my inventory..." Arashi turned to Shiro, who seemed to be a little embarrassed. She made the hand motion in the air, reaching out and quickly flicking her hand downward. This normally would open up the menu to allow whatever was needed. He watched a few times as she struggled to make...nothing happen.

The blacksmith shook his head. "Looks like you have a bit of a bug, give it a little bit and it should fix itself. You can come back to me then to sell your things, alright?" He offered up a smile, which was half-returned by Shiro. Not being able to log out when she wanted was something that made her really nervous.

Arashi grew a little curious. "...Are all Npc's aware that this is a game? Because talking about bugs and whatnot really is a little offsetting..." Having an Npc bring up that the coding of the game would get fixed as time went on seemed a little advanced even for this game.

Arashi double checked to make sure that he could open the menu. He let out a small sigh as he saw the familiar white and orange popup come into existence.

"It's working fine for me, let's just do as Gil says and head for an Inn or something. I'm not going to log out until I know that you can as well." Arashi smiled a little, one that was immediately reflected by the female version of his friend.

"Well ain't that the cutest thing I've seen all day. You both are such a nice couple, aren't cha?" Gil laughed, watching as both the teens went bright red. Arashi immediately retorted with a glare, while Shiro hid her face in her hands. They both left the shop to the sound of continued amused laughter.

* * *

Arashi paid the innkeeper a small amount of cor, just enough to be welcome for the next 12 hours, as well as to provide a "well-rested" login bonus for when they decided to hop back on the servers.

Their room was small, but furnished with just enough to be comfortable for the night. The room only had A large double-bed to sleep in, since paying for a double-room costed almost twice as much cor, but Arashi decided that a single bed being shared would be fine for the time being. They didn't actually have to sleep together to get the bonus, just lay on the bed and then log out.

Arashi was the only disappointed one that that news.

"Is your menu still acting up?" Arashi practically fell onto the bed, his armor and weapons disappearing as it auto-equipped to normal clothing for sleep.

"Yeah...it is. I've been trying to open it since the shops, still nothing..." Shiro sighed and sat on the bed, facing opposite to Arashi.

"Damn. Well I'm not going anywhere, just like I said I would." He spoke through a yawn, crossing his legs over the other as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Thank you...Arashi-kun..." Shiro smiled a little , getting comfortable on her opposite end of the bed, occasionally looking over towards Arashi to see if he fell asleep.

Arashi caught one of her glances and smiled. "You're a cute girl, Toshiro." He yawned. "That's probably the stupidest thing for me to say, but you're beautiful as all hell." He sleepily chuckled, his legs falling off of one another as he slumped. Shiro turned more red than ever, not that he saw.

Before Shiro could say anything in response, Arashi's menu popped up.

"Hmm..?" Arashi mumbled, opening his eyes a little bit as he glanced at the open menu. With his sleep-deprived vision, he could barely make out anything other than something server-wide.

As he read the message, his menu disappeared from view again. In seconds, a large blue colum of pixels began to engulf the both of them. Before any form of reaction could be made, both their bodies disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The room lay empty.

* * *

"Oof!" Arashi let out an audible groan as he landed on to his back, before letting out another gasp of pain as the form of Shiro landed on his as well.

The both of them got up slowly and looked around, taking in their familiar surroundings.

They were at the starting fountain, the same one that they originally spawned from when they first entered the game. It seemed that they were not the only ones that were forced out of whatever they were doing, as more and more people began to appear in the same fashion that they had. People looked around in confusion, some in frustration, to try and find a reason that they were moved. The entire server seemed to have been collected into one large area.

But for what?

They didn't have to wait very long for a response.

The sky above, which used to be black and lit only by the moon high above, suddenly turned into a vibrant shade of red. Large portions of the sky turned into pixelated hexagons, growing and spreading across the sky. In a grotesque fashion, what seemed to be blood began to pour out of these pixelated areas, flowing downward and then converging, massing together into a large...something in the sky.

The red ooze seemed to solidify into a large read cloak, and a massive hooded figure now loomed above them all.

The figure's arms outstretched wide, and then he spoke.

 _ **"Hello all of you. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Welcome, all of you, to my world.**_ " He began. The voice was loud and confident, yet seemed grim and foreboding. Something was very wrong about this.

" _ **As some of you may have noticed, the logout button has been removed from the menu. I would like you all to know that this was not unintentional. As of right now, each and every one of you are now trapped in Sword Art Online."**_

Arashi heard Shiro gasp, and hardened his eyes on the figure above. How in the hell could something like that be true? Terror gripped at him again as he thought back to his mother, still asleep in their home. It couldn't be true.

" _ **For those of you that think this is just a joke, that there is no way that someone would actually do this. I'd like you to know that several public investigations and reports are already reaching national notice."**_ Around the large figure of Kayaba, screens began to come into existence. They rotated around him, showing panicked headlines and newsfeeds. Arashi's eyes widened greatly when he saw his own town's hospital escorting people his age into the hospital attached to large power supplies that fed into the Nerve Gear.

" _ **As you can see, this is all very, very real. And for those that beleive that help is on the way soon, know that any attempt to remove the Nerve Gear system, or a disconnection from the game itself will result in a meltdown of the Nerve Gear's transmitter, effectively leaving the wearer as nothing more than a vegetable on a hospital bed."**_ He chuckled darkly, holding up a specific newscast of one such incident where that warning was not heeded. An older man was surrounded by crying family members as the doctors were no longer able to find any form of brain activity. Beside him was a now useless Nerve Gear, the back panel only slightly open.

" _ **Those that have not heeded this warning have killed their own friends and family, totaling to 213 deaths since the discovery. I can assure you that number will not stay the same. Because in addition to the removal of the logout button, the revival system has now also been disabled. Meaning if you die here in Aincrad, then the transmitter meltdowns and you die in real life. Not even your character avatar will remain."**_

It was at this point that people began to panic, screaming and swearing towards the hooded Kayaba. Shiro was shaking heavily next to Arashi, fighting back tears as the realization of this all being true hit home.

When the volume of the protests became almost painful, the large hand of Kayaba struck forward, and with it every player was suddenly muted. More people screamed, their faces struck with terror as they made not a single sound.

" _ **That is not to say that you are without hope. There is still the possibility of freedom. Aincrad is a world of 100 floors, each with their own bosses and challenges. Should every boss in the game be defeated, and the castle at the top be claimed by the players, then the game is complete. But more importantly, if all of Aincrad has been completed, then you all shall earn your freedom."**_

That was impossible. That was actually impossible! Arashi looked around, and could practically see the sheer terror in the beta tester's eyes. They knew how long it took to get to the 10th floor alone, and that was with constant deaths and respawns. 6 months of effort between the 1000 players only got them that far. And now that death was permanent, that meant that it was going to take even longer.

 _ **"If you want your freedom, then complete the game. Become strong fighters in the world of Aincrad."**_ The large form of the haunting figure began to rise up, starting to dissolve into millions of red pixels.

" _ **And lastly, a gift. To help show you how real the world it, it's only fair that you be just as real as it is."**_ He laughed, as nearly 10,000 players suddenly held a small glass mirror.

Light erupted from everyone, the collective light flooding and blinding the eyes of every everything died down, the sky was normal, and voices were heard for the first time since Kayaba had silenced them all.

Collective gasps rang out from the thousands of people, the mirrors making the players become reflections of their real selves. Arashi looked around quickly as people looked at themselves and began to panic, some players now dressed in the opposite clothing that their gender was normally associated with. A very notable amount of the female players that Arashi had seen were now...males. That was probably the largest and most notable change.

Arashi was suddenly made aware of someone gripping his shirt, and quickly looked down in concern.

"Toshiro! Are-" He stopped immediately, seeing that Toshiro was crying wordlessly. Her eyes were closed tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks. She clung so tightly to his shirt that he was surprised it didn't tear away from him. She was biting her lip to keep herself from crying out, completely oblivious to the world that was around them.

And still very much a female avatar.

Arashi disregarded that for now, reaching down to pick the crying girl up into his arms as he began to run out from the starting fountain before everyone began to dissolve into a panic.

He turned corner after corner after entering the main city, turning his head to wipe any tears onto his sleeve. He carried the sobbing Toshiro to the same Inn that they had rented before, and quickly made his way up the small set of stairs and opened their room.

The place was exactly the same as it was before. But now the silence was deafening.

Arashi placed his friend's body down onto the bed, but found himself unable to let go. A quick glance made him realize that she still had a death grip on his body, but seemed to have completely exhausted herself with crying to the point of falling asleep.

Seeing no other option, Arashi quickly moved until they were both in the bed together.

Only now did Arashi let himself cry, knowing that the dream come true that Aincrad was has turned into the worst living nightmare that they could ever have. Thoughts of missing school, his mother...thoughts of Toshiro and how terrified his parents must be...

"I'll get us out, okay?" He whispered through his own sobs, knowing his words fell on deaf ears.

"I'll kill every boss on my own if I have to, I swear. We're gonna get out. We're gonna get out..." He repeated this over and over again, holding the form of the sleeping girl a little tighter before being consumed by his own exhaustion.

Aincrad awaits.

* * *

 **And that's the third chapter.**

 **Things finally took a turn for the worst.**

 **Review and stuff if you enjoyed. And favorite, maybe?**

 **I'm still tired. GIVE ME MOTIVATION TO WRITE MORE.**


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